The Offer He Refused
by Amy-Star
Summary: Rufus always knew that Lily was rich, but it was a part of her life that he kept at the back of his mind. Pre-TV Series.


He always knew that Lily was rich, but it was a part of her life that he kept at the back of his mind. Sort of like hearing about a war taking place in a foreign country, you understand the acts and mechanics of war but unless you are in the middle of it then you are too far away to be able to understand its implications.

Well he was now in the middle of it.

Rufus shifted uneasily on the balls of his feet, his hazel eyes darting to the polished dark oak furniture that he bet were actual antiques not mock ones, to paintings that belonged on the walls of a museum, to the fresh white lilies in the ornate blue vases. Everything in the immaculate living room seemed to be mocking him, maliciously pointing out that he did not belong.

It had already been fifteen minutes since the butler with a permanent scowl on his face led him into the living room, stating in a drone like voice the Mrs. Rosend would be arriving in a minute. Whether she was purposely making him wait in order to make him nervous or considered him not worth the effort to be on time for, this whole situation did not sit well with Rufus. After all this was the dreaded mother of his girlfriend, the stories of her manipulations and back stabbing seemed too out there to actually be true, then again Lily was not the kind of girl to make up sorties or over exaggerate. He knew he should not be here, the very fact that in the invitation that Cecilia Rosend sent him asked that he not tell Lily about them meeting could not lead to anything good.

The small sound of someone clearing their throat in polite irritation forced Rufus out of his thoughts so that he could be face to face with Cecilia Rosend, or the unofficial ice queen of Manhattan, as Lily would call her mother when in a particularly spiteful mood. For all he had heard about her Rufus was expecting a tall and imposing figure, a harsh face, and perhaps for her to be followed by a pack of flying monkeys to do her bidding like in the Wizard of Oz. The woman he saw before him was not what he imagined. She was not very tall, had thin shoulders and a slight figure that made it appear that it would be easy to push her around. It was clearly evident she was Lily's mother they had the same aristocratic nose, the light honeyed blonde hair, the delicate features, their eyes were even the same blue-grey color only where Lily's held warmth and playful sarcasm, her mother's were sharp and cold behind a veil of fake politeness.

"Mr. Humphrey, please sit down," she gestured towards the sofa behind him before walking across the room with a regal air before sitting down in an opposite chair as if it were a throne. Rufus recalled in the early days of dating Lily that she had mentioned her family were descendants of Swedish nobility, back then he thought she was teasing him but now he was more inclined to believe it was true.

"I would offer you tea but I expect you do not often get that kind of luxury, so you probably would not enjoy it, "She gave him a hard smile that made his skin crawl.

"It's fine," he replied lowering himself down onto the sofa, noting that despite its attractive design it was hardly comfortable.

"Let me get to the point, "She said briskly as if he were a servant that found it especially hard to remember orders, "You are not a suitable prospect for my daughter. Though I understand the need to enjoy youthful endeavors its time for her to focus on getting married to a man that can provide for her the lifestyle she was born into."

Rufus wondered if maybe she was a Jane Austen character that had managed to escape the confines of her book in order to spread eighteenth century ideals in the twentieth.

"Though I'm sure you have amiable qualities," she gave him a severe look that spoke in volumes that she believed he had no redeeming qualities whatsoever, "Men like you do not date girls like Lily."

"Well that's your opinion anyhow," Rufus replied coolly.

Cecilia responded in soft laughter but there was no mirth in her eyes, "Oh dear, I never thought you would be this naïve. Mr. Humphrey my way of thinking is how the rest of society thinks, there are certain levels, classes if you will, and you and my daughter are not in the same one."

"I really don't care what you or society thinks," Rufus felt his anger begin to rise seeing no reason why he should bow down to this woman just because she thought she ruled everything, "All I care about is what Lily thinks."

"The problem is however she is not thinking," her eyes now flashed with open loathing as she leaned in speaking in a low and threatening voice, "My daughter missed her cotillion last month, the most important day for girls of her class, the day in which she presents herself to society and to find her future husband. Instead she was gallivanting with you, who can offer her nothing, doing lord knows what."

"Well I could tell you but you probably don't want to hear," He gave her a cocky smirk pleased that it annoyed her, "But I can promise you it had nothing to do with proper society."

"Oh you are crude," she seethed before she took in an even breath in order to regain her lost composer, "I hope you do not think that you will not be compensated for you loss, I'm nothing but a fair woman."

"I'm sorry, are you putting a price on your daughter?"

"Please, do not try to present yourself as moral or above money," She gestured towards a small writing table in the corner of the room, "In a matter of moments I could write you a cheque containing more money then you've seen in your life."

Rufus stood up in order for his hazel eyes to glare down at her, "You're money means nothing to me and your daughter means everything to me."

"Well, well," she gave him a twisted smile, "You are quite the poet but believe me one way or another my daughter will leave you."

Rufus felt his chest tighten with anger, never before had he ever met a person that he wanted to see have bodily harm done to them, clenching his hands in fury he turned around and left the beautiful apartment that held no warmth. He hoped that the next time he saw Cecilia Rosend it would be to witness her being run over by a bus.

Rufus angrily opened the door to his apartment, tossing his jacket with more force then was necessary onto the couch before making his way to the kitchen. He ripped open the fridge door to grab a bottle of beer before slamming it closed; he was about to furiously search the nearby drawer for a bottle opener when he noticed something on the fridge door. A note written in Lily's neat flowing writing listed off items they needed to purchase at their next shopping trip, Rufus had no idea why but seeing such a mundane note calmed him. He reached over and opened the drawer normally to get the bottle opener, then casually drank his beer before he wondered where Lily had gone off to.

He walked down the hallway and when he noticed the bathroom door shut with a faint red light emitting from the crack under the door, he knew what she was doing. It Appeared that Lily had once again taken over the bathroom in order to develop her photographs, at least she no longer did it early in the morning when he needed to take his shower. Not that Rufus would complain, it was pointless to complain to Lily, she never bothered to listen to them.

"I'm back," He called out leaning against the wall.

"Really, that's surprising. One would think that after all that noise you made that I would have realized your return."

Her affectionate teasing was such a welcome familiarity to him that Rufus could not help but smile.

"Guess I just don't know my own strength."

He could sense more than see her rolling her eyes.

"How are the pictures coming along? James and the guys keep on asking me about it."

"They're coming."

"You do realize we have to send in the album cover in two days."

"If you want poor quality then by all means rush me, if not then just be patient."

Rufus raised his hands in defeat, shaking his head in humor as he walked into the living room and sank into the couch, suddenly he felt tired to the point that he considered skipping out on tonight's band practice. Not feeling motivated enough to turn on the television for distraction he stared at the ceiling occasionally drinking his beer and thinking about whether or not he should talk to Lily about his meeting with her mother. After a while, Lily emerged from the bathroom, wearing a pair of old jeans and a black Lincoln Hawk shirt that was on size too big on her slight form, with her blonde hair gathered up in a messy bun. She looked stunning to him and there was also the extra bonus of pleasure in knowing that if her mother saw her precious daughter like this, she would have a fit.

"They'll be done in an hour," she announced as she pulled her hair tie out, letting the honeyed blonde tresses to fall down her back, "Does that satisfy you?"

"You're a star and I don't deserve you," Rufus gave her a wide grin holding out his hand for her to join him, which she took with a small smile.

Now lying on top of him Rufus wrapped one arm around her waist while his free hand played with her hair, she gave a contented sigh before planting a soft kiss on his neck. Rufus felt her tiredness vanish immediately and now awakening desire replaced it.

"So what were you angry about?"

"Hmmm," Rufus responded though he was not really listening as he moved his hand under shirt to touch the soft skin of her back.

"When you came in," She stated in a half annoyed and half amused tone pulling herself up so that she could stare into his face, Rufus wished she had not it was a lot easier to lie to Lily when her eyes were not searching his own for answers. The late afternoon sun stained the room in shades of deep gold and orange, resulting in giving Lily's features a faint glow to them as she gazed down at him with concern. Lily always managed to get her way especially with him, a part of him wanted to tell her but the other part knew that despite Lily's words of dislike towards her mother, Cecilia still heavily influenced her daughter. The promise that Cecilia made to Rufus at the end of their conversation was still replaying itself over and over again in his head, he hated the fact that he believed her.

"It's nothing," He reassured giving her his best boyish smile," I just met someone on the way home I didn't like."

Lily scrunched her nose in disbelief and was about to press him further on the subject if Rufus had not leaned up and kissed her fully. She stiffened for a second but soon relaxed her body against his, their mouths moving against each other, hands reaching out to remove unwanted barriers of clothing in order to touch skin. As she kissed him along his jaw line while he unclasped her bra, Rufus wondered how much longer he would be able to have her like this.

He really should not have gone to see Cecilia, because now more than ever he felt that their relationship was on a time limit and it was about to expire.

Tasha O: Well that was my first ever Gossip Girl fanfic I don't know if Lily and Rufus actually lived together but in my mind they do, and also I'm not totally sure if Lily's maiden name is Rosend but in Episode 1-10 Hi Society in the scene where Rufus is helping Dan getting ready for cotillion Rufus says "Show that Cecilia Rosend (?) what us Humphrey men are made of!"….Well I heard Rosend did anyone else hear differently?


End file.
